Jacksonville Jaguars Final 2017 Season Power Rankings: Top 10
By Daniel Lago
After a 10-6 season driven by a historically great defense and a strong running game, the Jacksonville Jaguars finish in the top 10 of most power rankings.
The Jacksonville Jaguars finished the 2017 NFL regular season on a 2 game losing streak, marking the first time this particular rendition of the Jaguars lost more than one game in a row.
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Fortunately, those two games were effectively meaningless in terms of playoff seeding for the Jaguars and they don’t have to dwell on the countless mistakes made in both discouraging losses.
That being said, you can’t blame folks from the national media if they jump off the Jaguars bandwagon as they enter the playoffs with seemingly no momentum. Blake Bortles has looked rough in the last two contests and the defense got waxed by Jimmy Garoppolo before recovering this past weekend against the Titans.
Overall however, this season has been a resounding success for a team that won the first division title since the realignment left them in the AFC South over a decade-and-a-half ago.
With the 2017 season in the books, where do the Jaguars stack up this week in the power rankings? Lets find out:
"7. Jacksonville JaguarsThe Jaguars defense is still special, but Jacksonville has to find more creative ways to get the run game going. When the offense has to rely on Blake Bortles throwing the ball, it’s hard for them to beat a quality opponent.The best thing for the Jaguars is that the Tennessee Titans aren’t coming to town next weekend. Jacksonville matches up much better with the Buffalo Bills, especially now that McCoy is dealing with an ankle injury.I still believe in the talent the Jaguars have on their roster, but Jacksonville is going to have to play within a certain formula to beat some of these better teams in the playoffs—specifically, the Jags cannot rely heavily on Bortles."
"8. JaguarsThey looked bad the past two weeks, but they still got a home playoff game. If they play like they did at Tennessee, they could be a one-and-done team."
"10. Jacksonville JaguarsWho knows what to make of these Jaguars? Doug Marrone, as anticipated, played his starters in Week 17, presumably not wanting Jacksonville to stumble into the postseason with two straight losses (including a defeat in San Francisco the week prior). Welp. Maybe the Jags were experimenting with the strategy of half-heartedly trying to win. Cool, but the performance in Nashville was more than experimentally disheartening. That’s because the reality is, even after a three-week glimmer of hope, this team has a quarterback problem."
"8. Jacksonville Jaguars2017 record: 10-6Week 17 ranking: No. 9Opponent winning percentage: .434; tied for easiest. The Jaguars made the playoffs for the first time since 2007 and had a defense that finished second in points allowed, yards allowed and takeaways. It was a great season for Jacksonville, but the team also was aided a bit by the schedule. The Jaguars and Titans tied for the easiest schedules."
My take:
It’s no surprise to see the Jaguars finish in the top 10 of all these power rankings, even with a couple of uncharacteristic losses in their rearview window.
The Jaguars have by far the best defense in the playoffs and their offense, while anecdotally has struggled, was a top 10 offense by most metrics this year.
The Jaguars are a damn good team, but unfortunately they can be beat by any squad if their quarterback has a terrible day. That’s a bit tongue in cheek since you could apply that same logic to any team, but it’s heightened because Blake Bortles has and will always seemingly be a national punching bag.
Regardless, the Jaguars enter this weekend with a very good chance to win their first playoff game since 2007.